free to profit
Whether it is industry or agriculture, the only way to run it profitably is on sound business principles. The West Bengal government’s proposal to open some state-run farms to private investors is, therefore, a welcome move. Like the sick public-sector industries, these farms have long been languishing as loss-making units. The only justification for their existence has been the employment it provides to some people. Worse still, they give no support to the farmers for whose benefit they were set up. These farms have thus remained a glaring example of all that is wrong with the state’s initiative in agriculture. The government has to realize that it has no business to stand between the farmers and the market. Private investments can make farming profitable business and, at the same time, help farmers diversify their livelihood options. What kind of contracts the farmers enter into with private investors should naturally be a matter between the two sides. It should be up to them to decide if the farmers would sell their produce to the companies investing in the production. Similarly, the prices at which the farm produces would be sold should be left to the two sides to decide.
June 13, 2006 @ 3:12 AM · Filed under Uncategorized
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